Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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greenfx
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Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by greenfx » Tue May 11, 2010 5:21 pm

There are so many "expert folks here so I thought I'd ask here.

I am yet to start on Apap. I have hypoapnea episodes at night. Could it be the cause of tinnitus ??
Honestly, tinnitus is more of an issue with me right now although I know I don't sleep well
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Wulfman
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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by Wulfman » Tue May 11, 2010 5:35 pm

Do a Google search using this: sleep apnea AND tinnitus


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dsm
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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by dsm » Tue May 11, 2010 5:37 pm

greenfx wrote:There are so many "expert folks here so I thought I'd ask here.

I am yet to start on Apap. I have hypoapnea episodes at night. Could it be the cause of tinnitus ??
Honestly, tinnitus is more of an issue with me right now although I know I don't sleep well
Greenfx

As someone with tinnitus, my experience is no cpap therapy doesn't as best as I can determine, cause or worsen tinnitus.
If anything I would lean towards it being diminished, but that is a very subjective opinion.

My hearing aids appear to do the most in reducing tinnitus.

DSM

(In China it has long been a custom to carry around a cricket in one's pocket, in a tiny little wicker cage. The cricket will usually 'sing' when it is brought out into the open. We tinnitus folk don't need the cricket to hear the singing
Last edited by dsm on Tue May 11, 2010 6:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by DreamStalker » Tue May 11, 2010 5:39 pm

Ditto what DSM said.

BTW Doug, your new Julia set avatar is groovy man ...
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dsm
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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by dsm » Tue May 11, 2010 5:47 pm

DreamStalker wrote:Ditto what DSM said.

BTW Doug, your new Julia set avatar is groovy man ...
Tks - always was intrigued by Mandelbrot patterns.

I have often thought your avatar was created by a very modern Mayan who loved his hieroglyphic art & bicycle riding

(am sure that is a bike beneath the pic )

DSM
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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by LSAT » Tue May 11, 2010 5:55 pm

I also have tinnitus...I find that the low hum of my CPAP helps to drown out the ringing when I am trying to sleep.

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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by DreamStalker » Tue May 11, 2010 6:07 pm

dsm wrote:
DreamStalker wrote:Ditto what DSM said.

BTW Doug, your new Julia set avatar is groovy man ...
Tks - always was intrigued by Mandelbrot patterns.

I have often thought your avatar was created by a very modern Mayan who loved his hieroglyphic art & bicycle riding

(am sure that is a bike beneath the pic )

DSM
Actually, my avatar image depicts the iconography of the Teotihuacan (Aztec)rain god, Tlaloc.

Not sure if they had invented bikes back then but the modern artist may very well be a biker dude.

RE: thread

Tinitus is thought to be caused by dead or dying nerve cells of the ear. The pitch of the hum is the frequency which those dead nerves used to sense. The brain creates the signal (hallucinates) since it no longer receives the frequency signals from the dead nerve cells (much the same way that amputees may sometimes sense feeling from their missing limbs). I have unilateral hearing loss at the exact same frequency as the pitch of my tinitus in my right ear. What I have noticed is that the tinitus gets louder when my blood pressure is high and goes away in a noisy or sound stimulating environment (ie. listening to music).
Last edited by DreamStalker on Tue May 11, 2010 6:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by blakepro » Tue May 11, 2010 6:16 pm

I have undiagnosed Tinnitus that I think is probably pretty minor compared to a lot of the people that suffer from it, but yeah, I would agree that during c-pap treatment, its less noticeable.

Its basically just because its the worst when in a completely silent environment because you notice it more. When you have other sounds like the white noise of a c-pap machine, it distracts you from the constant persistent ringing brought on by the Tinnitus.

Has anyone noticed differences with the Tinnitus depending on air pressure though? like when you are going up or down a big hill in your car and your ears need to "pop" If things like that affect it, it would seem like the pressure of cpap could as well.

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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by chronic » Tue May 11, 2010 7:16 pm

Yes, I believe tinnitus is caused by sleep apnea. I'm sure other things can cause it. I've got both, the tinnitus struck me probably back in 1992. In retrospect I had sleep apnea then, maybe before that but was suffering from ignorance, denial and stupidity. I have often thought that the "sound" I "hear" is the very sound I really don't hear. I've never found anything to make it better. The best relief I find is to sit out in the yard on a warm summer evening when those large insects are singing. Cicadis or something like that.

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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by Julie » Tue May 11, 2010 7:18 pm

Tinnitus is NOT caused by sleep apnea. It just isn't, but ask a neurologist, ENT doctor or audiologist about it.

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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by DreamStalker » Tue May 11, 2010 7:49 pm

Julie wrote:Tinnitus is NOT caused by sleep apnea. It just isn't, but ask a neurologist, ENT doctor or audiologist about it.
Ditto .......

BTW -

I just took my daily dose of 1000 mg Niacin about 15 minutes ago. Niacin also seems to make the tinitus louder during the flush period (a side-effect of niacin).
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Re: Does sleep apnea cause tinnitus

Post by alterego61 » Tue May 11, 2010 9:53 pm

"Sleep problems are common in individuals with tinnitus but it is not known if they can be seen as a reaction to the acoustic percept of tinnitus disturbing normal sleep, or if there are common causes."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17956787

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